1. Technical Field
This invention relates to power-driven cutting implements, and more particularly to an electrically powered, hand-held saw having a spare blade storage compartment for holding one or more spare saw blades.
2. Discussion
Electrically driven cutting implements such as jigsaws and reciprocating saws are commonly used for a variety of cutting tasks by both professional builders and construction persons, as well as by individuals involved in home repair and improvement. Reciprocating saws are generally referred to in the trade as "recip" saws and incorporate reciprocating shafts for driving elongated saw blades linearly along a predetermined path to provide either a rectilinear or orbital cutting action.
With a reciprocating saw, the saw blade used is releasably attached to a reciprocating drive shaft. The reciprocating drive shaft is driven by a suitable gear train, which is in turn driven by an electric motor. The blade is typically attached to a blade holder incorporating a set screw which is received in a hole in one end of the saw blade.
Since the saw blade may periodically break, become dull or otherwise need to be replaced, it is necessary to maintain one or more spare saw blades in the event of breakage of a blade in the middle of a cutting task. This has involved professionals and non-professionals either trying to keep one or more spare saw blades in a tool box which is also taken with the saw to a work site. As can be appreciated, it is often inconvenient when a blade becomes dull or in need of replacement, or when the blade needs to be changed for a different application, to be required to put the saw down and retrieve a spare blade from a tool box, a work vehicle, etc. While some individuals attempt to eliminate this inconvenience by carrying one or more spares within some form of blade holder container in a pants pocket or tool box pouch, this too has limitations because it requires the individual to remember to bring the spare blade(s) apart from the saw and to return the spare blades to a tool box after a task is finished.
Other attempts to alleviate the necessity of remembering to carry one or more spare saw blades have involved actually taping the blade to the housing of the saw. This is disadvantageous for several reasons. For one, the tape used may not be easily removable. For another, the tape may cover one or more openings formed in the housing for supplying air circulation to the internally mounted motor of the saw. Accordingly, it is strongly preferable to be able to carry at least one spare saw blade on the housing of the saw itself without the risk of the saw blade being accidentally dislodged from the housing and without the use of tape to secure the saw blade to the housing.
Various attempts have been made to modify a housing of a power tool to accommodate one or more spare implements such as saw blades. These attempts have involved forming a compartment in a housing of a power tool within which one or more cutting implements can be held therein by a removable, independent cover member secured to the housing either with or without separate threaded screws. An example of such an arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,573 to Hitzeroth. The obvious drawback with this arrangement is the possibility of losing the cover piece or the inconvenience of having to use a screwdriver to unthread one or more threaded screws before being able to access the spare blades.
It would therefore be highly desirable to provide an electrical power tool with a means for retaining one or more spare implements, such as spare saw blades, which can be easily accessed by the operator of the power tool without requiring a separate cover member to be removed from the housing of the power tool.
It would further be highly desirable to provide a power tool having a spare implement storage chamber wherein one or more spare implements such as cutting blades can be stored without significantly modifying the housing of the power tool, and further without adding a significant number of additional component parts to the power tool. In this manner, the overall cost of manufacturing the power tool would not be significantly increased.
It would also be highly desirable to provide an electric power tool with a storage compartment for carrying one or more spare implements such as spare cutting blades, where the storage compartment does not increase the overall size of the housing of the power tool, does not increase significantly the overall weight of the power tool, nor require modification of the placement of the internal components of the power tool within the housing.
It would further be highly desirable to provide an electric power tool having a blade storage compartment for holding one or more spare implements such as spare cutting blades, which can be quickly and easily removed from the storage compartment by simply engaging a single retaining member with one or more fingers, or simply by grasping the non-serrated portion of the blade. This would enable the spare cutting implement to be removed from the housing quickly, easily and without any external tools such as screw drivers, wrenches, etc., and without requiring removal of a separate cover component.